Equines have been present in Britain since 700,000 BC, and fossil remains have been found in the area of Exmoor dating back to about 50,000 BC. Some Exmoor fanciers claim that the breed has been purebred since the ice age, a claim unsupported by modern DNA research, although a close morphological resemblance to the primitive wild horse has been noted. Archeological investigations have shown that horses were used for transport in the southwest of England as early as 400 BC, and Roman carvings show ponies phenotypically similar to the Exmoor pony.

The Domesday Book records ponies on Exmoor in 1086, and descendants of ponies removed from the moor in 1818 form the foundation bloodstock of today's Exmoor breed, although a breed society was not formed until 1921. The breed nearly became extinct after the Second World War, owing to soldiers using them for target practice and thieves killing them for their meat. After the war a small group of breeders worked to save the Exmoor, and during the 1950s ponies began to be exported to North America. The first stud book was published in 1963, and in 1981 publicity resulted in increased interest in the breed. As of 2010 there were an estimated 800 Exmoor ponies worldwide.

With a stocky, powerful build, the Exmoor pony is strong for its height, and noted for its hardiness and endurance.[1] The chest is deep and the back broad, the croup level. The legs are short, with good bone and hard hooves.[2] Although many sources state that the Exmoor has a distinctly different jaw structure from other horse breeds, which includes the beginnings of development of a seventh molar, this is a misunderstanding based on an incorrect translation of a German study. The study, when properly translated, refers to a feature, found in multiple horse breeds and perhaps all animals with sizable lower jaws, that appears to be an extra branch of blood supply in the area. While an extra tooth may have eventually developed from this extra blood supply, its frequency among the general horse population makes its appearance in the Exmoor pony unremarkable.[3]

The head is somewhat large in proportion to the body, with small ears, and has a unique feature called a "toad eye" caused by extra fleshiness of the eyelids, which helps to deflect water and provide extra insulation. As with most cold-weather pony breeds, the Exmoor grows a winter coat consisting of a highly insulating woolly underlayer and a topcoat of longer, oily hairs that prevent the undercoat from becoming waterlogged by diverting water down the sides of the animal to fall from just a few drip areas. The mane and tail are thick and long, and the dock of the tail is of a type common in cold-weather ponies, having coarse hairs, called a "frost cap," "snow chute," or "ice tail" that deflects rainwater away from the groin and underbelly areas to fall from the long hairs on the back of the hind legs.[1][3]

Exmoor ponies are usually a variant of dark bay, called "brown", with pangaré ("mealy") markings[4] around the eyes, muzzle, flanks, and underbelly. Pangaré markings occur in other equines as well as horses, and are considered to be a primitive trait. Entry in the breed registry requires that the animal have no white markings. They usually stand 11.1 to 12.3 hands (45 to 51 inches, 114 to 130 cm), with the height limit for mares being 12.2 hands (50 inches, 127 cm) and that for stallions and geldings 12.3 hands (51 inches, 130 cm).[2]

Exmoor fanciers claim the breed is directly descended from an isolated population of wild ancestors bred pure since the Ice Age,[5][6] and thus more than 10,000 years old.[7] Modern DNA research to date has not supported that traditionally held view of the origin of the Exmoor pony however, as existing studies indicate they share their maternally inherited mitochondrial DNA with various other horse breeds from across the world,[8] and their paternally inherited Y-chromosome is identical to that of most other domesticated horses.[9]

No genetic studies to date have correlated these prehistoric remains to any modern breed. What has been studied are Y-chromosomes (Y-DNA) and mitochondrial DNA (mtDNA) obtained from Exmoor ponies. The Y-chromosome is passed on through the male line, and worldwide shows very little genetic variation in horses,[9] except for a second Y-chromosome haplotype found in China,[16] suggesting that a very limited number of stallions contributed to the original genome of the domestic horse. The Exmoor pony shares this general Y-chromosome haplotype.[9] In contrast, mitochondrial DNA is passed on though the female line, and shows far more variation than Y-DNA, indicating that a large number of wild mares from several regions have contributed to modern domestic breeds.[17][18] Some mtDNA-haplotypes have been found in DNA samples obtained from wild horses in prehistoric deposits, while other mtDNA-haplotypes have only been found in domesticated horses, from both living individuals and archeological finds.[8] The Exmoor pony has a high frequency of pre-domestication mtDNA-haplotypes, but these are also found in different breeds all around the world.[8] Currently, for the British Isles, there are only three DNA archeological samples available, all from Ireland.[19] Although wild horses were abundant after the last ice age,[20] the lack of sufficient pre-domestication DNA samples makes it impossible to determine the contribution of the wild horses of the British Islands to modern breeds, including the Exmoor pony.[19] A 1995 study of morphological characteristics, the outward appearance of organisms, indicated that the Exmoor, Pottock, and Tarpan have an extremely close resemblance; these breeds were consistently grouped together in the results from several analyses, with the Exmoor showing the closest relationship to the Tarpan of all the breeds studied, at 0.27; the next-closest breeds to the Tarpan were the Pottock and Merens, both with a genetic distance from the Tarpan of 0.47. The distance between the Exmoor and Pottock was 0.37, and between the Exmoor and Merens was 0.40; a significantly wider gap than the distance between the Exmoor and Tarpan.[21]

The first indication of domesticated horses in England comes from archaeological investigations showing that the ancient Britons were using wheeled horse-drawn transport extensively in southwest England as early as 400 BC.[22] Recent research has indicated that there was significant Roman involvement in mining on Exmoor.[23] Metals including iron, tin, and copper were transported to Hengistbury Head in neighbouring Dorset for export,[24] and Roman carvings, showing British and Roman chariots pulled by ponies phenotypically similar to the Exmoor, have been found in Somerset.[25][26][27][28]

The Domesday Book mentions ponies in Exmoor in 1086. Mentions of the ponies are rare between then and 1818, when the Royal Exmoor Forest was sold to a private buyer. Sir Thomas Acland, the Exmoor Royal Forest's last warden, took 30 ponies from the area to Winsford Hill, where he owned land.[29] This herd became known as the Anchor herd, and a small number of descendants of this original herd still remain at Winsford Hill. At the same time as Acland's removal, the rest of the ponies were sold, but some stayed with breeders in the area, and their families still preserve the descendants of those animals. From the 1820s to 1860s Exmoors were used to produce crossbreds, which although successful were not as hardy as their ancestors. In 1893, the ponies were described in Sidney's Book of the Horse as around 12 hands (48 inches, 122 cm) high, usually bay in color, and with conformation similar to what it is today. In the late 1800s, the National Pony Society began to register Exmoors and Exmoor crossbreds. In 1921, the Exmoor Pony Society was formed, and published its first stud book in 1963.[30]

The Second World War led to a sharp decrease in the breed population as the moor became a training ground. The breed nearly became extinct, with only 50 ponies surviving the war.[31] This was partially due to soldiers using some ponies for target practice and others being stolen and eaten by people in the cities.[32] After the war, a small group of breeders continued to preserve the population, and publicity in 1981 resulted in increased interest in the breed.[30] The first Exmoors in North America were imported to Canada in the 1950s, and several small herds are still maintained there.[33] In the 1990s, small herds of Exmoor ponies were established in various areas of England. These herds are used to maintain vegetation on nature reserves, many being managed by organisations such as the National Trust, Natural England, and County Wildlife Trusts.[34]

Every purebred registered Exmoor is branded with a four-point star on the near (left) shoulder, although branding has attracted criticism.[35] In addition to the British Exmoor Pony Society, there is also the Exmoor Pony Association International, an organisation founded in the US that registers Exmoors worldwide.[36] In 2000, the Moorland Mousie Trust, a British organisation, was established to assist in the preservation of the Exmoor pony. There is little market for Exmoor colts, so the organisation works to raise funds for the gelding and training of these horses.[37]

Exmoor ponies in their native habitat

Currently, The Livestock Conservancy considers the population of the Exmoor to be at "threatened" levels,[38] meaning that the estimated global population of the breed is less than 5,000 and there are less than 1,000 registrations annually in the US.[39] The UK Rare Breeds Survival Trust considers the breed to be "endangered",[40] meaning that population numbers are estimated to be less than 500 in Great Britain.[41] The Equus Survival Trust considers the breed to be "critical", meaning that there are between 100 and 300 active adult breeding mares.[42] As of 2010, there were estimated to be around 800 Exmoor ponies worldwide.[43]